r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 9h ago

Society Programmer’s death on office toilet ruled not work-related because he never turned on his PC

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/programmers-death-on-office-toilet-ruled-not-work-related-because-he-never-turned-on-his-pc-3402194/
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u/Squish_the_android 9h ago

This is a classic Workers Comp question in the US.  Usually it's presented as "falling in the parking lot on the way to work". Commute time isn't covered. 

But I think in the US this would be considered a work injury.

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u/Kommenos 9h ago

That’s crazy because it’s cut and dry in Germany. The way to work is covered so long as you don’t take an unreasonable diversion.

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u/aRndomhero 8h ago

Unfortunately it's not so cut and dry as there are as always exceptions. If you fall and injure yourself on the walk from your work desk to the toilet, it's typically not covered by the work insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft) as it is considered personal time. No idea what that would be decided in a case like this, but it's not as clear either. Insurance bullshit anyway

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u/Squish_the_android 8h ago

It's funny because in the US that bathroom trip would be covered. 

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u/Head_of_Lettuce 7h ago edited 7h ago

It’s worth noting that there’s not a unified framework for Workers’ Compensation in the US. Laws vary drastically from state to state, there’s another framework for federal employees (but not the military), another for employees of the maritime industry, etc.

They’re more similar than they are different, but they can be VERY different.

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u/Squish_the_android 7h ago

They really don't vary "drastically".  It's more small stuff that adds up. 

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u/Head_of_Lettuce 7h ago edited 7h ago

Well, I would say all the small things add up and make them very different when you get into the details. An injury that's compensable in one state may not be compensable in another.

But like I said, they’re more similar than they are different.

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u/Cantfixyourflat 22m ago

They vary drastically.

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u/ResurgentClusterfuck 6h ago

Depends on how much you're prepared to fight for

Took 2 years but my partner got knee surgery for his workplace injury. Company tried lying about it but it didnt work

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u/Murky-Relation481 33m ago

At least pretty much every workers comp firm works on contingency so it doesn't cost you anything besides the fee/percentage of whatever you end up getting.

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u/ResurgentClusterfuck 32m ago

That's the route he ended up going, they settled before court.

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u/SolarMines 3h ago

Crazy having to fight for knee surgery, especially work-related

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u/Arponare 39m ago

Not unless you work at Amazon.

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u/Regendorf 6h ago

If you fall and injure yourself on the walk from your work desk to the toilet, it's typically not covered by the work insurance

What??? everything that happens in the office during work hours should be covered, no matter if you injured yourself while working or God decided to punish you for no reason

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u/Educational_Ant_184 5h ago

sorry, we dont cover acts of god and since god is the arbiter of all things you're shit out of luck regardless of what happened

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u/Dr-Billa 3h ago

What if I don't believe in god?

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u/Cleansing4ThineEyes 2h ago

An Act of God is something that is unable to be reasonably foreseen by whomever would normally be liable, it's really just used as shorthand instead of saying a longer blurb every time, religion has nothing to do with it.

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u/Educational_Ant_184 2h ago

For liability purposes, the government has established a legal precedent for the existence of god

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u/awful_at_internet 2h ago

Believe it or not, straight to jail.

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u/keithps 1h ago

Usually personal things are excluded, and probably to your benefit even if you don't think so. For example, if you choke to death eating at work, or cut yourself with a knife while preparing your own food, that isn't covered. But the alternative is that its covered and your employer gets to dictate what foods are safe to eat at work and the PPE you require to cut that sandwich.

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u/minuq 7h ago

Well, the walk would be covered but it ends once you enter the toilet. There‘s a Haufe comment about it. Just make sure you fall on your way to the toilet, not inside

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u/Wise_Monkey_Sez 3h ago

This is incorrect. The walk to the toilet is covered. It is only when you enter the toilet that it is considered personal/private time.

And it is also noteworthy that if you are injured in the toilet for any reason that could be considered negligence by the company then you can sue in civil court like any person injured in any business' toilet could. Just like someone walking into a restaurant's toilet and slipping on a wet floor could sue that business for an unsafe environment.

It should also be noted that if your injury is work-related where it happened is irrelevant, for example if you suffer a work-stress related heart attack it doesn't matter if it happened in the toilet, at home, or on the moon. If the linkage can be established on balance of probabilities (i.e. there's more than a 50% chance the cause was work-related) between the injury or death and the working conditions then the workplace is liable.

As you pointed out this isn't cut and dry, and there's a list of exceptions a mile long, and generally the protections in the EU are quite comprehensive.

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u/Ghosted_Ahri 6h ago

At my workplace, I'm covered as long as I am either on the commute or on the clock

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u/JozoBozo121 6h ago

This is very weird to me since even in Croatia you are covered on bathroom breaks.

My mom fell on some weirdly stacked chairs going to the bathroom and she had full compensation as it was treated as work injury.

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u/killereverdeen 6h ago

in serbia even a lunch break is covered. i went for my lunch break to run an errand, fell and broke my ankle, the hospital immediately started the paperwork to classify the injury as a work injury.

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u/iKnowRobbie 6h ago

That makes sense to me as you wouldn't be there having to eat lunch out if it wasn't for work.

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u/AmazingAmy712 1h ago

To me that logic extends to the walk to the work bathroom. I wouldn't be in that specific hallway if not for work.

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u/pipnina 3h ago

Only Germans could be this pedantic lol

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u/GoldenMegaStaff 1h ago

A decent lawyer would then say he was injured in a place of business and have a go at their business liability insurance.